Norton, VA – This summer Camp Create! welcomed students for a month-long residency at Central High School, and now they’re ready to take the stage. Pro-Art’s Camp Create! proudly presents Anaïs Mitchell’s “Hadestown: Teen Edition” on Friday, July 24th and Saturday, July 25th at 6 p.m. at Central High School in Norton. The performances are free and open to the public, but donations to the long-term sustainability of the camp are appreciated. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the show.
The musical is a folk-inspired retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, thoughtfully adapted for performers and audiences ages 10+. This intriguing and beautiful folk opera delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience. Following two intertwining love stories—that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of immortal King Hades and lady Persephone—“Hadestown” invites audiences on a journey to the underworld and back. Inspired by traditions of classic American folk music and vintage New Orleans jazz, Mitchell’s beguiling musical pits industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love.
The musical is deep but not dark, poetic rather than provocative, and reassuring for parents while still captivating young performers and audiences. “Hadestown: Teen Edition” encourages conversations about compassion and hope.
Thanks in part to the generosity of the Rapha Foundation, Pro-Art launched this reboot of its cherished summer camp in 2023 with no required cost to student’s families. Instead, Pro-Art is asking participant’s families and the wider community to make a contribution to the sustainability of the camp program at any amount that is meaningful to them. “We want everyone to be able to participate in this program, but we also want it to be sustainable financially going forward,” said Pro-Art Executive Director Michael McNulty. “We hope that we can foster a community that sees the immense value of this program and helps us to make it last well into the future for the children of our region.” For more information and to make a donation, please visit proartva.org.
Pro-Art partners with a variety of venues, for accessibility inquiries or general questions, call (276) 376-4520 or email contact@proartva.org. For weather related updates, patrons are encouraged to check proartva.org for real-time information.
Camp Create! is made possible in part thanks to the Rapha Foundation. Pro-Art is supported in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, which receives support from the Virginia General Assembly, as well as the C. Bascom Slemp Foundation, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Smith Vicars Family Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
*PHOTOS by MICHELLE MULLINS*
*********